Judith Potts was an actress and is now a voice, acting and presentation coach. She is married with two children, three stepchildren and is the proud grandmother to two grandsons. She lives in west London and Yorkshire. In 2008 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She can be contacted at judith.potts@telegraph.co.uk and is on Twitter @JudithPotts.

The moving story of an incredibly brave woman

Ellie Jeffery is 28 and has secondary breast cancer, which has spread to her lungs, liver and bones. She was a reporter with ITN and Sky News, is engaged to be married to television producer, Tom, and is one very determined lady.

When her consultant – who could not be described as patient-friendly – gave her the news that the cancer had returned and she had only a few months left to live, Ellie was doubly dismayed and angry to be told that she was denied even the chance to take part in any Phase 1 trials. These use drugs which have been tested in laboratories but not on humans. Despite the fact that she was quite prepared to be a guinea pig, she was told that she was not eligible.

In desperation she sought a second opinion and is now a part of various Phase 1 trials. I won't tell her story for her because it is all on her beautifully written blog called – aptly – "Written off" www.writtenoff.net – which I recommend highly to you. She says that writing the blog – along with the support from family and friends (one of whom alerted me to the blog) – is giving her the strength to keep going.

It is a series of very moving blog posts detailing her life since secondary breast cancer was diagnosed – but written with humour, honesty and hope.

Incredibly, Ellie has fallen into the 15 per cent of people whose breast cancer "flips" from being hormone receptive to Triple Negative – which means that it does not respond to oestrogen, progesterone or HER2 but, we hope, will continue to respond to chemotherapy.

When I spoke to Ellie last week, I asked her what one aspect of her experience would she like to highlight for others who may be travelling down the same road. Without hesitation she said "Do not be afraid to ask for a second opinion". Without the doctor, whose second opinion she sought, she would be in a very different place – and, as she makes clear in one of the blog posts, the "flipping" may not have been discovered and she may have continued to be treated for a cancer she did not have.

Kris Hallenga, who founded Coppafeel (the charity which works with young people to raise awareness of breast cancer in that age group) and is also fighting secondary breast cancer, is another young sufferer who agrees that we must not be too polite and respectful to our doctors – if we want a referral, or a second opinion, we must insist and carry on insisting until our wish is granted. We are all entitled to a second opinion but, somehow, we find it difficult to pluck up the courage and ask for a referral – I suppose we are too concerned about hurting the feelings of the doctor sitting in front of us. However, hurting someone's feelings is infinitely preferable to losing the chance of another opinion on your cancer and its treatment.

For the young, it is especially important because – far too often – symptoms are dismissed by the GP as being "hormonal" and cancer is not discussed until it is too late.

A date for your diary – Breast Cancer Care has its second annual Secondary Breast Cancer Awareness Day on 13th October – but more of this in a future blog post.